Heroic Murray makes semi-finals

Andy Murray caused an upset at the Thailand Open today after beating third seed Robby Ginepri, to seal a place in his first ATP Tour semi-final.

Murray made a good start in the opening set breaking Ginepri in the first game and managing to take a 3-1 lead but the US Open semi-finalist fought back to go 5-4 in front, the Scot then failed to save the set on his serve surrendering the first set looking a little tired, 4-6.

The second set proved to be a thriller and after 4-4, Murray made a crucial break in the ninth game with a brilliant backhand and then he held his serve to take the second set 6-4.

Brave Murray continued to pressure the third seed in the deciding set and the increasingly frustrated Ginepri consistently served well but it was not enough to slow down the stubborn 18-year-old. Murray then got the vital break after a long fifth game, and then managed to break Ginepri again in the ninth to win the match 4-6 6-4 6-3.

Afterwards, Murray said:

I attacked when I had to after the first serves, I played pretty much tougher. Winning against two top 50 players in a row is a big deal for me. To get my first semi is also great.

And about his semi-final opponent:

Paradorn is playing in front of his home crowd and he's a big star here. It's going to be a tough match for me, I'm not expected to win but if I can play like today, I get the chance to win. I want to reach my first ATP final and play against the best player in the world.

Murray, with a ranking now likely to sour into 80s, will face home-crowd favourite Paradorn Srichaphan in the young Scot's first ATP Tour semi-final.

just heard petch say its the best two sets of tennis hes ever seen andy play he's also saying that he'd rather see andy play srichapan in the semis because hes the easier option...and next year will be the year of 'consolidation'. (sky sports news)

so pleased for him!! can't wait to see who he gets to face in the semis!

Apart from Andy jumping up the rankings, this must mean the end of playing the also-rans in the Challengers. He must now look forward to plenty of ATP wild cards coming his way, as well as automatic entries.